Chapter 178: Spirit Binding

"That's- is that? water from my source?"

"Hahahaha... So you really did feel it. I was a little worried such a little amount was insufficient but I guess the family knew what they were doing."

The white-haired demon laughed and spoke tauntingly as he played with the seemingly fragile bottle in his hands.

"Hahahaha... Now bitch, I'll advise you to come with us quietly or else."

He tightened his grip, threatening to crush the bottle which seemed to have garnered a reaction from Erin. They had been keeping an eye on her since they became freemen and knew her current lifeforce was extremely low. 

Normally a water nymph wouldn't die when its source was destroyed but its lifeforce would rapidly be drained from them until they were able to attach themselves to a new source or a temporary one. However, with her current lifeforce, now that her connection with Albert had been broken, once the bottle was destroyed and her source gone once again, she would not have enough time to save herself before the remaining of her life force would be gone.

Erin hesitated, she was stuck in a very difficult situation. She knew she could not leave with them but she also wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight without damaging or destroying her own source.

"It seems she isn't interested in coming quietly Griff, we don't have much time so let's get on with this."

The black-haired demon spoke next to the white-haired, no, spoke to Griff as he swiped his whip on the ground and a dark aura oozed out of his body.

"Alright, let's do it. We can't keep Lady Izabel waiting too long, she won't step on me if we end up disappointing her."

He licked his lips with the same weird smile on his face as always which actually sent shivers down Erin's spine for the wrong reason.

Hearing his response, the black-haired demon, Blane, immediately began his attack. He charged at the immobile nymph and swung his whip at her as his whip was suddenly engulfed in greenish-white flames. 

•Flaming Blitz• 

His whip moved like a snake as it rapidly cut through the air at Erin who quickly used a defensive spell, water barrier. A sphere of water formed a bubble around her but the whip instantly sliced through the barrier and a forceful strike sent her flying back.

Erin slammed into the wall but was able to remain standing. The only reason she was alive was because of the considerable difference between her life rating and theirs. If they had been a little bit stronger, that Attack would've dealt her a lot more damage.

However, Erin knew she wouldn't win against these two if she spent the entire battle only defending herself and worrying about her source. Didn't she already decide to put her life on the line to stop Mammon?

Right, at the thought of Mammon, she now knew why she was hesitating and holding back. Her original objective had been to save Albert and the others and now she wouldn't be able to do that as the moment her source was destroyed, she would lose any hope she had in stopping Mammon. 

Hell, she wasn't even sure she had enough to take on these two and win. They seem to be completely prepared for her and thus may have prepared various measures against her attacks. Still, nothing would be accomplished if she wasted all her time hesitating.

All she needed to do was end this with her first attack and immediately move to save Albert before it was too late. The moment she thought this, one of the gems on her bracelet shattered, and large amounts of water immediately began to gush out like a massive turrents.

•Water Serpents•

As the water filled the marbled floor, seven large water serpents immediately began to form. However, before her skill was completed, Griff laughed wickedly and immediately tossed something on the water on the ground. It was a small metallic device, shaped like a three-dimensional octagon and seemed to have three magic crystals embedded in it.

The moment the device had touched the floor, and immerse force immediately suppressed every spiritual being in the room. 

•Spirit Binding•

Erin's skill was forcibly canceled and the immerse force from the device nearly knocked her unconscious: it would seem this was why they had shown her her source as in her previous mortal state, she possessed a complete physical body and this type of sealing would've been way less effective on her.

Since the remaining part of her source could not restore her lifeforce, her reconnection with it had turned her back into a pure spirit being. And although like this she was technically immortal, it was currently in the worst way possible.

Seeing the nymph unable to move thanks to the Spirit Binding device the Brimstone family had spent years making. Griff and Blane had a smile on their faces as they slowly approached her.

A normal spirit binding spell or skill would not be effective against a demigod but thanks to this device, they would be able to accomplish their mission without fail. Now all they needed to do was teleport away with her before Mammon would notice their presence. Then again, perhaps he already did, but that no longer mattered.

The moment Griff and Blane got close enough to the bow kneeling Erin, she used almost all her strength and instantly formed a single water serpent Thant stemmed into Griff and sent him all the way across the room. 

His body slammed into the wall in a devastating impact as he gasp a mouthful of blood. He had received a lot of damage from that one strike and had almost broken an arm but the restoration effect of his dagger kept him alive and he would soon recover, a look of pain and ecstasy appearing on his face.

"You Lille bitch!"

Blane flared up and his greenish-black gauntlet sparked as she sent a massive blow at the weakened nymph. An Electric shock traveled across our body upon impact which is a gauntlet and being weak to lightning, her body was sent flying back into the hall, the impact to follow would surely be enough to knock her out, making their job a whole lot easier.

However—

Her figure hadn't impacted with the hard ground as Blane had expected. Rather, a figure that surely wasn't there before had caught her before she could hit the floor.

Griff who had just recovered from his stupor and had managed to heal himself also stood up and stared at the figure that stood at the end of the hall staring coldly at them.

The hall was well lit with the colorful crystal chandeliers that shone white light but for some reason, they couldn't clearly see the figure's face. Hell, they were even struggling to keep their heads up as his presence alone made them want to kneel.

•••••••••••

•••••••••••

—A few minutes Earlier 

—In an unknown snowfield.

{Notice: The magic artifact, Spatial infinity has successfully evolved. However, due to Monarch Authorities, Imbued. The skills of the artifact have now been infused into your soul.}

"Wait what?"

{Notice: Skills obtained.}

{Skill: Spatial Manipulation.

Subsidiary skills: Spatial Movement, Spatial Barrier, Frozen Space, and Infinite Storage Space.}

{Notice: All items stored in the storage space of the artifact, 'Spatial Infinity,' have been transferred to the monarch storage skill.}

{Notice: The living properties of the artifact 'Spatial infinity cannot be Imbued to the user. Thus skill is being combined with others to create the unique skill: Wisdom of Uriel.}

{Skill is unable to be used at the moment and monarch is required to learn skills: Clairvoyance, Divine Appraisal, and World Divination.} 

Before he even had a chance to do anything, Tyler heard the emotionless and genderless voice again in his head as he rapidly felt the ring on his index finger grow hot.

{Notice: Extraction of the Living property was successful and thus the shell of the item, Spatial infinity will now be destroyed as the material is currently unstable.}

He quickly yanked the ring off his finger and tossed it a considerable distance as it exploded soon after in a massive explosion that would've most likely killed everyone next to him aside from Zelda who was currently still in his shadows.

He was just about to consider what had happened to him when he suddenly received a piece of information from Flare and Kali about the movements of the undead King Zerahut and the Lamia Queen Daenerys.

As though that was not already bad enough, in the next second he had received a communication request from Albert that said:

'I regret to inform you that I have failed you, my lord. The barrier has been breached, and we're currently being attacked from the rear.'

A dumbfounded expression was currently plastered on his face as he had no idea how he was supposed to react to such news. His sudden cry sounded like he hadn't heard what Albert had said but there was no way that was true.

What in the world is going on today. Why were so many things happening at once? He was yet to mentally recover from the strain that so-called evolution had caused to his very soul and yet his mind was being attacked by so much bad news at once.

First, there was the army of 20,000 plus undead that were marching to the east and now some unknown assailants had somehow broken into the castle despite all the precautions he took before he left. Tyler was about to endlessly lament within himself when something distinct about Albert's voice struck him and he had to stay focused.

Not sure if he could still use magic, he tried to silently cast the 'Placate' spell on himself and succeeded which was a relief at this point. After calming down for a second he was about to ask Albert about the perpetrators but Albert hurriedly spoke first.

'I'm afraid I cannot maintain this link for long my lord. I fear something may have happened to her. Please forgive me for my incompetence. I'm afraid I can no longer hold myself back.'

Tyler could hear the slight hesitation in Albert's voice as he could tell he was struggling to hold back something and he could somehow also feel his pain. That pain had also driven away all his unease and worry as he now put the matter with the evolution in the back of his mind.

The communication link was cut before he could ask any questions but Tyler no longer needed to do that. He didn't particularly care about the castle itself but the magic library so it didn't matter to him if it was destroyed but he had grown fond of his self-proclaimed butler and knew that the only one that could make Albert act like that was Erin.

He could clearly remember the first time he met the pair and how desperately Albert tried to save her but that wasn't all. She had also been very useful to him and he did care for them no matter how much he wanted to be able to detach himself from everyone around him so he could one day leave in peace.

'Seems like a simple and peaceful life traveling the world is out of the question for me.'

Turning around he saw Nadine finally waking up after passing out due to his aura earlier. She held her head and turned it around adorably as though she had just woken up from a deep sleep. Seeing Tyler standing in the snow staring at her without the pained expression he had before. 

A bright smile blossomed on her face as she ran towards him and before Tyler could even say a word she had hugged him tightly saying things along the lines of 'you're okay, I was so scared.' Her tight squeeze didn't hurt but it seems to melt away his previous worries and hesitation. How could anyone think of abandoning people that so genuinely care and worry about them.

Moreover, his new found demon's pride wouldn't allow him to just ignore this blunder. Whoever it was that had attacked his castle had just clearly insulted him and were obviously underestimating him. Such a being could not be permitted to live.

He was just solidifying his resolves when Zelda suddenly appeared and mimicking Nadine for some reason, she also gave him a tight hug. Perhaps she had sensed that her hug had improved his mental state and wanted to also help her master.

However, Tyler was just thankful she wasn't the type of undead that were made of bones and rotten flesh. That would've sucked.